Substitute
by DizzyTech
Summary: Jak and Daxter wake up one morning to find that something is amiss. Something's different. Chaos ensues...
1. Down the Hall, to the Left

**Substitute**

**Chapter One: Down the Hall, to the Left**

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Whoo-hoo, another story for me! Is that good? I don't think so. Anyway, read and review.

_Description: _Jak and Daxter wake up one morning, to find that something is amiss - something not quite the same – that leads them off on a journey.

_Overused Disclaimer:_ I do not own J&D, nor do I represent Naughty Dog. Obviously.

_Author's Note: _For all intents and purposes, Substitute takes place a few months after the end of Jak 3, and prior to the events of Jak X.

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Jak and Daxter always understood each other. There was a mutual respect for one another and, more specifically, unending support the other. Jak, for example, always stood behind his friend Daxter, especially because there was not much to stand behind.

Daxter, on the other hand, always respected Jak for his bravery and strength, though he would not admit it in a million years, and because Jak sometimes scared the living daylights out of him.

The duo had been inseparable since they had met hundreds of years before this story. More so after Daxter's bath with eco, and even further as they arrived in Haven City.

The two liked to believe that they understood each other greatly. However, the mystical Precursors had their own ideas.

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Jak almost didn't wake up. The warmth was amazingly comfortable. It cuddled every inch of him, bathing him and wafting him. He would have sat there for days, burrowing deeper and deeper into the soft bedding. However, his internal clock rang loudly with a repetitive tone much like the alarm clock that had sat on his bedside table until, in a fury only gained by lack of sleep, he had decimated the small device with a blast of dark eco.

His mind woke up just enough to mechanically drive his body. Without another thought, he pulled himself out of the comfy, warm bed an into the icy cold of the apartment. _Down the hall, to the left, down the hall, to the left,_ his mind told his nerves, driving him in a precise line across the tile. His footsteps sounded oddly muffled as he staggered.

Jak turned left, and ran into a wooden door. The cold surface came to rest directly against his face. He yawned, and his mind woke up ever so slightly more. _Hmm, that's odd, I swore I left the door open last night_. No matter. He mindlessly lifted his arm, and twisted the cool metal knob, and almost immediately fell into the bathroom. His feet felt even colder on the tile.

He ran his hand through his hair, not noticing the small clatter of something falling to the floor as he flipped his hair. Thick, smooth, greasy... shower time. As an indicator of his filthiness, his entire torso itched like mad.

He used his left hand to scratch himself like mad while satisfying his dire need to urinate. After finishing and without pause, he turned to his left again and walked straight, going into the shower. He twisted another cold knob and a stream of tepid water splashed upon his head.

Jak grabbed a bar of soap from a small shelf jutting into the wall, and began rubbing himself with the cleaning substance. A small bit of music began playing in the background. He found himself tapping his foot to the beat of the rock music that quietly played from an unknown source. Jak knew something was weird there; it was now that he usually heard news readings from that morning's headlines, usual Freedom League and New Haven jargon, nothing else.

_Damn electronic showers._ Things were so much less complicated back home, he couldn't help but think. His mind wandered back to Sandover Village.

A beep sounded, and multiple jets of soapy water began spraying him before he even finished rubbing his chest with his soap.

_Interesting_, he thought, _it's never done that before_. _Ah, screw it, less work for me_. Jak put the soap down and let his mind wander further as the shower cleaned him without worry.

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Daxter woke up out of biting cold, late as usual. No alarm blared as usual, but a stream of light coming in through a window awoke him. He rolled out of bed and onto the floor, landing with a heavy thump. _The bed's not that high up._ Shaking his head, thinking Tess probably messed with it, he slowly rose to his feet, completely oblivious to what was amiss. _Down the hall, to the left_. His mind gave him the primitive thoughts as he began to woke up, still half asleep.

His reached his hand out, expecting a doorknob, but was instead met with empty air. Expecting for a wooded block to be there to support his minimal weight, he fell into the bathroom, hitting the cold tile with another thump. Worse, his head began pounding. _Of course. Good morning, Daxter! Today's the day where the Precursors are going to totally screw with you!_

Daxter chuckled as his own unexpected ironic statement. He got up off the floor, suddenly in a better mood. He quickly raised his hand and waved it through his hair, checking his own state of hygiene. _Ah, I can go another day, right?_ He paused for a moment. _Just as long as Torn resists the urge to send us somewhere like the sewers..._

_...Again..._

Dax pushed it off. He wanted to admire himself in the mirror for a moment. He thought comically to himself, "It's what gives Orange Lightning his charisma!"

He reached his hand out to the right, flailing momentarily in his search for the light switch. He found it, and faced the mirror as he prepared to turn it on.

Daxter flicked it, making a loud "Click!" echo throughout the room. He opened his eyes to stare at himself, beaming happily.

However, at seeing his reflection, he shouted in fear. A short, but loud, burst of voice that scared him even further. Wait, strike that: he wasn't really scared, just startled. At least, that's what Daxter told himself as he jumped back about a foot. He then looked in the mirror again.

The sight made him dizzy. _I'm nuts,_ Daxter thought, holding his hand to his forehead. He felt no fur, and looked back at his reflected image once more.

There he saw a smooth figure glowering back at him. He made faces, and his reflection complied. Daxter observed himself. He was wearing no clothes, save for a loose pair of boxer shorts with the image of Metal-Head Skull Gems sown on.

He furrowed his brow in complete and utter confusion. Daxter repeated the motion with his hand to his hair, noting his short, greenish-blond crew cut.

_I'm... Jak?!_

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Similar events were occurring across town. Rather than describe an almost identical series of events, I'll skip to the good part:

"Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" Jak cried out. He couldn't believe what he was seeing, and, soon thereafter, what he was saying.

Jak had just gotten out of the shower. Still content and dripping from the warm cleaning waters, he looked in the mirror. He started screaming at that second, his mind running in rapid circles. Hyperventilating slightly, Jak glanced down at the thin orange fur covering his small body.

A small pair of goggles lay on the counter, resting where they had fallen only minutes earlier. Arms up in confusion, and still breathing heavily, Jak looked down upon himself.

He found himself still screaming – authentically in the voice of his friend, no less – as he heard a voice. It was sweet, and concerned.

"Dax, sweetie, what's wrong?"

Jak looked up and to his right. Another ottsel stood in the doorway. He immediately recognized Tess.

Thinking of something to say, Jak glanced at the mirror. His orange friend – or, rather, himself – stared back at himself expectantly, as if to shout, "Say something, you idiot!"

"Well..."

_I'm Daxter._ _Great. _And, as an afterthought: _That's why I hate Mondays._

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_No. No, no... No, no, no! No, no, no, no, no!_ Daxter sat on the leather-like couch, rubbing his temples confusedly. _This can't be happening. _He opened his newly-humanized palm, and stared at it for a few moments. He then flipped his hand over, and observed the other side. Overcome by a sudden sense of wisdom, he though of how many times this hand killed.

He stopped himself before the thoughts continued. _God, no wonder Samos is such a grumpy ass... he gets these thoughts all the time!_

Dax pondered what he would do. He guess he had to get in touch with Jak. _If I'm Jak, Jak's me, right?!_ Coincidence, at that moment, reared its ugly head.

He heard a musical tone, and a communicator buzzed in his shirt pocket. He had a time getting Jak's tunic on... he hadn't worn a shirt in over six years – heck, he was just getting used to wearing pants again! Daxter grabbed the thin metallic device out of the pocket, pressed a button, and began to speak. The effect of his voice was odd: he was speaking in his friend's deep, serious voice, but with the attitude and tone of himself. Mixed with his own fast-paced talking, Daxter's voice ended up sounding like Jak on a serious sugar rush.

"Talk to me."

Daxter heard himself speak in response. The sound was comparably weird: his joyful (more obnoxious) voice was serious, and smooth. All-in-all, Jak sounded like a lethargic teenager over the communicator. "Dax, is that you?"

Daxter became agitated. "No, it's Torn, whadda hell to ya' think?"

Jak chuckled inwardly at hearing the sarcasm dripping in his own voice. "Yeah, it's definitely my smartass friend."

"Good to know that's the same."

"Do you have any idea what's going on?"

"You're asking **me**?" Daxter sassed. "I'm not Onin... go ask that monkaw, Pecker!"

"Whatever," Jak replied. "We need to meet up somewhere. Tell somebody."

"Who?! Torn and Ashelin will think we've gone nuts..."

"...Unless we're both there..."

Daxter sighed dramatically. "Fine, Orange Lightning." It felt odd calling his friend by his own nickname, but it fit enough. He could almost hear his own fur bristle in frustration across the com-phone.

Jak whipped back with his own stupid nickname. "Whatever, 'Tall, Dark, and Gruesome.'"

Daxter laughed. "That's right, the only Eco Freaks in town have switched bodies, thank the Precursors!"

They both chuckled.

Daxter changed the subject. "So, how's Tess? How did she respond?"

He waited in happy anticipation. Tess was likely to believe anything that came out of the male ottsel's mouth, even if it was Jak's words.

"Well, she first tried to give me a hug and slip me a pill..."

"...I love that pill..."

Jak paused momentarily in disgust. "I'm kidding... but okay... she looked freaked for a moment, and then looked into my eyes. Apparently she saw something."

Daxter grinned. "I love how she does that..."

"...You wanna talk to her?"

Before Daxter could even respond, the communicator rustled, and he heard Tess' voice begin to pester him with questions. After appeasing her worries for a few moments, a beep could be heard through the communicator's speaker. Overwhelmed by his girlfriend's concern, he took the opportunity to hang up. "Whoops, call waiting, gotta go!"

He pressed another button on the side of the device, and the line switched. "Is this the number for Captain Jak of the Freedom League?"

Daxter was about to mindlessly say no, but changed his answer. He coughed to try and get his voice as close to Jak's as possible, and thought of what his stern comrade would say. "**_Ahem..._**this is him."

"Ah, hello then. This is Shan Davis; I'm a representative in relations for the New Haven city section. All high-ranking officials in the Freedom League have been invited to a banquet tomorrow evening at Praxis Hall to introduce the new plan for the former Metal Head City. We'd be happy to accommodate any of your needs this event. Have you any, sir?"

Anxious, Daxter immediately said no. In response, the man over the phone ended the conversation, not allowing any room for conversation. "Alright, Captain. See you this evening."

_Great... this is going to be a really fun two days._

_...If it ends after tomorrow...  
_


	2. To Headquarters

**Substitute**

**Chapter Two: To Headquarters**

Jak was thinking as he stood outside the penthouse, staring down at the revamped city section below him. Zoomers passed by slowly. _Much slower than I would take them,_ Jak thought.

He had to get to headquarters, but he had no idea how. He hadn't ever seen Daxter drive before, and was unsure if he could. He supposed he could call a cab, but the rudimentary Zoomer transport system hadn't done much for anybody. Jak had to chase after rogue taxi drivers once, who got the job just to steal the industrial-size, closed-air Hellcat for most of the day. However, he thought of another method of city transport. The idea came to him in an instant: the Underground Transit!

Only weeks before had he overseen the reopening of the subway lines as part security detail, part speaker. He knew Daxter's home was only minutes away from the industrial section, and the entrance to the rails only seconds from there. For Jak, that would regularly take minutes, but he didn't know how long that would take for a two-foot-tall ottsel with pants.

_It's worth a shot._ Jak dug around in the pockets of his smallish shorts, and found a small metallic identification pass. He hoped to the Precursors that Daxter reloaded his credentials recently, or his trek across the city could take hours.

Minutes later, he was filing in line with people milling down a set of escalators. He moved faster then everybody else: quickly readjusting to the aerodynamics of Daxter's body, he dashed in between legs and bags, scratching his paws slightly on the bumpy metal. Perspective really drove Jak nuts, though. He nearly got lost twice because he wasn't seeing landmarks from his height.

Jak skidded out onto the subterranean ground, looking for a map. Running up to the first one he found, Jak glanced at the confusing list of inter-networked tunnels. Scanning the list, he found the shortest that would lead him to the New Haven section. He strained his neck to see the longer legend of colored tracks. _Hmm... Is that B Line? No... A!_

Finally deciding upon his transport, he looked for a sign indicating his train. According to the electronic map he just removed his eyes from, it would arrive any second.

Stepping as swiftly as he could on Daxter's padded feet, Jak ran to the platform. There lay the futuristic equivalent of turnstiles: two vertical bars with a slot for a credential pass.

As he looked up at the lightweight machine he realized something that made him curse his luck. _This is going to be hard._

Jak pulled out his friend's security pass, and began to frantically leap up and down, reaching for the slot. He stretched his small arms as far as he could.

He strained harder until he heard a voice. "Daxter, what are you doing here?" Jak instantly recognized the caring intonation.

"You usually don't take the rails." _Damn! That would certainly explain some things..._

Jak worked his best to sound like Daxter. "Well, when the mood strikes... plus, I wanted to try out the new rails. How are you, Kiera?"

"That's unlike you," Kiera giggled, "I'm fine." _Double damn, now she's suspicious!_ "Need some help?"

"Erm, no, I'm good." Jak took back to jumping up and down again.

Ignoring Jak's response, Kiera lifted who she believed was Daxter up to level height with the slot. "Um, thanks." Jak slipped the card in, and it was spit out on the other side. A robotic female voice said, "Enjoy your ride."

Keira repeated the action with her own card, and followed Jak into the large vehicle that had just arrived. Jak flopped tiredly onto one of the shiny new seats, while Keira stayed standing.

"Is everything alright, Daxter? You seem quiet... not like yourself."

Jak laughed out aloud. The irony was murderous. "You have no idea."

Daxter would have had no trouble getting to the Freedom League headquarters (after all, Jak only lived five city blocks away, in the last sector of government leader housing) if it had not been for a particularly nasty problem: Metal Heads.

Their ranks were thinning slowly after the destruction of their inner-city nest, however, they still infested the sewers, where few ventured at all, regardless of Metal Heads. Therefore, many "Metal Heads will attack you while you're on the toilet" myths were started.

But, on to the attack. It was sudden, as was any surprise attack (the operative word in the phrase being 'surprise'). One or two people roaming through New Haven were instantly killed as the monsters crashed through the blockade between the new section and the destroyed remains of the stadium. Presumably, they had left behind a trail of destruction behind them in the massive construction site.

The scene was dramatic. A few of the larger creatures began to drill and beam their way through the blockade, spreading dust and concrete as they demolished part of the surrounding wall. Large chunks began to come out, and the smaller, scorpion-like Metalheads began leaking through the cracks, and they increased in size as the holes did likewise.

The whole wall was starting to topple, cracking louder and louder as some of the vibrant pink beams of light emitted by the monsters burst through the wall that blocked New Haven from the Old Stadium.

The monsters were flooding in around him. A reasonably large group of people huddled around Daxter. _What the hell are these people doing?_

He realized that he was their hero. He knew that Jak had a Freedom League uniform on that had an over-sized logo on the _back. Am I supposed to save them?_ Time slowed down as the Metal Heads converged around the two dozen people with Daxter in the center, and they were closing fast.

Instinct told him to reach for Jak's gun. Daxter hoped he could remember how to put together the morph-gun. He pulled the weapon off of his back, and rotated the casing until he saw blue. He had used the Vulcan Fury before, and it was his weapon of choice. Daxter wouldn't push it to any of its other upgrades; he hoped his move would work. He had seen Jak do it in a couple of sticky situations: jumping up, and twisting around while firing. The trajectory of the bullets would push them out of his immediate radius, and, therefore, away from the citizens, and directly at the approaching Metalheads.

_Man, I hope I don't get dizzy._

He enacted his plan at that moment, realizing he had done something both wrong and right at the same time. In his quick work to find the Vulcan Fury addition, he had activated one of the upgrades: the Arc Wielder. _I've just found my new favorite._ A pulsating beam of electricity leaped out of the gun, and Daxter jumped and begun to spun. The ammo hit every single Metal Head around him. The cowering citizens ducked further, and pulled in more. With every arc, Daxter fell gracefully to the ground and repeated his move.

The monsters were pushed back with each spin, more and more dying each time. Daxter realized something grave as the smaller monsters thinned around him.

_There has to be a smarter one._ A bead of sweat rolled into his eyes. _A leader. _His mouth was dry, as was his lips. _A huge one. _Fear shook him, though he reminded himself he wasn't as vulnerable.

Daxter also realized something just as grave as the final wave of smaller monsters disappeared, but it was too late. As each one died, their carcass disappeared to be only replaced by a globule of eco. _Dark eco._ His held his breath. _The eco that made me an ottsel. _That didn't hurt him. _It also made Jak a monster. _His heart stopped. The citizens had taken the momentary peace to run into random buildings, leaving Daxter alone with his friend's body, a gun, and an approaching Metal Head that was rearing to kill him.

Daxter gasped. _Oh, shit._

At that moment, all of the eco around him began to spin. It began to spin around him, Daxter realized. The purplish ooze spun closer and closer, until it was forced into his friend's unsuspecting body. Or, rather, readily absorbed.

The pain was unbearable. _So this was what Jak felt..._ his transformation hurt, but was only a minor sting. This was unbearable... and Jak withstood it! A million needles pierced his skin, stabbing repeatedly like tiny knives. He shouted in pain. His mind drifted away. He couldn't stand the pain. _Oh, God, that hurts..._

As his mind began to drift out of consciousness, he heard a voice. It was malevolent in its tone, and was sinisterly hanging on the end of each syllable. He had heard the voice only once before, in a phrase to the effect of, "I'm gonna' kill Praxis!"

"Nice to meet you. Welcome to the family."

_What the...?_

Jak was not paying any attention to the rest of the world as he followed Kiera lovingly off of the subway and into the city. He did not notice the other citizens hanging behind, nor did he hear the monotonous alarm.

Jak realized instantly that Daxter could stare at all the women he wanted to without a second thought. He was small, orange, and furry... compared to his regular self, a literal pile of strong-willed, steely-eyed joy.

Jak was swept out of his love-induced stupor as he heard the sounds of explosions and roars. _Metal Head roars._

He ran smack into Kiera's legs, which would have normally made him happy, but he felt how rigid her whole body was. Jak glanced upward, around his love interest, and out of the subway portal into the city section. What he saw was horrifying, and almost made him faint.

His own dark eco-afflicted image was terrifying. He had never seen his dark self, or his light self for that matter, during the transformation. He had heard descriptions, but never seen the true image. He wasn't in too much control over his body during these times anyway, but having rational thought while his dark self fought to take over was impossible.

The image was nightmare-inducing. He saw the basic composition of his own body, though much was different. His skin was an eerie ,pale purple. The hair was a grey, spikey mass slicked own backwards to his shoulders. His eyes were black marbles of death. Purple beams of what seemed like electricity – in the form of dark eco – sizzled across the surface of his body. Gruesome claws protruded from his knuckles. His clothes appeared as rags, and a malevolent grin spread across his hardened face.

An ever-so-cuddly ball of pure rage.

In pure terror, for both himself and his friend, he screamed out, "Daxter!"

Kiera heard the odd-sounding outburst from the ottsel and whirled around, instantly doing the math. She cocked her head, and ducked down, trudging back down the metallic stairs while dragging the small body of Jak. She reached the bottom of the stairs by rolling, and pulled Jak from her chest, who was momentarily enjoying the cuddle.

She looked deep into his eyes. "...Jak?"

Glancing around at the cowering businessmen and women nervously, Jak chuckled a little. In as normal of a voice he could, sounding much more like a younger version of himself than Daxter, he coughed, "Um, hi, Kiera."

The chaos surrounding paused for a moment as they stared at each other, but quickly resumed. The poundings above became closer, and they both looked up. They could see the start of Dark Daxter's eco aura coming down the stair. Pulsing in the red light of alarms, a set of solid metal bars began to drop from the ceiling.

Every person in the room prayed to the Precursors that it would fall fast enough.

However, to the sound of a supernatural laugh of evil, they did not fall fast enough.

Soon, everybody in the room was staring at the gruesomely evil smirk of the Eco-tainted elven being. He looked around, and found Kiera and Jak, staring at them with a look of everything wrong in the world: the pure hatred that the Dark Makers cursed upon the world. The pair began to backup slowly, as the evil character continued to grin.

Dark Daxter stuck one arm out, a crackle of eco popping out of his arm. He raised one leg, and began to spin in a move oddly reminiscent of what Daxter ha done only minutes ago. The Dark Eco began to concentrate in the vicinity of the protuding arm. The beam began to solidify, spreading faster with every spin the character made. Kiera and Jak tactfully ducked with each revolution of deadly power, though their luck wouldn't last for much longer.

Many of the people in the room were hit instantly, demonstrating the true destructive power in the beast. More and more people were being blasted with the energy repeatedly. Jak and Kiera had come to a reinforced bench, which they slid behind for protection. The attack was slowly ending, but they knew a new wave would come soon. Their only hope...

"Subdue him!" A squeaky voice of a teenager was echoed via an amplifier. The pair looked up to see a set of blue, signaling the Freedom League guards.

If only they could...

But they would not stop the attack. At that moment, Dark Daxter leaped into the air, pushing his fist up towards the ceiling. The world went into slow motion. In that period in which time slowed down, both Kiera and Jak could attest that the monster turned toward them, and winked.

The world began to speed back up, and the dark beast began to turn back to the earth, ramming his fist into the ground, sending out shock waves of eco instantaneously.

And, just as instantaneously, blackout.


	3. Genuinely Crazy

**Substitute**

**Chapter Three: Genuinely Crazy **

_**Man, I'm so sorry that I didn't get this in for so long! I had my birthday, and then testing at school so... you get the point.**_

Daxter woke up, slowly. His vision faded in and out, and when he could see, the room was spinning. He had a massive headache, and the boy felt like he had been rammed by a Hellcat.

He felt much like this the first time he was drunk... one who owns a bar must know what he sells, right? But, I must move on.

His senses activated one at a time, fading in like seeing the sun as a dark cloud dissipates. His sense of touch obviously came first, and therefore pain. _Ouch, that hurts._

Then came taste. A nasty, gritty, and dry feeling spread through his mouth, reminding him he had not brushed his teeth that morning. _I _was_ a little preoccupied..._

Smell was next. A sterile, but fresh burst of oxygen filled his nostrils.

Then, came sound. A constant chatter of voices. _I must've fallen asleep at the bar again._

His sight came last. A group of people were crowded around where he was evidently laying down, peering apprehensively. His suspicions of falling asleep at his bar were immediately cast off, however the party theory improved itself. Being the smartass he was, he groaned, "What a wild party..."

Daxter caught himself at his voice. Though it was dry and came out at a near-croak, it was noticeably different.

Then it all came rushing back.

However, before anything could happen, a wave of pain attacked him. He was threatened to be pulled back into the darkness. The angry growl of his friend's dark side screamed at him, fighting for supremacy over Jak's body.

He tried to gather what he could from his surroundings. He croaked out, "Eco..."

A man stood over him, clearly a doctor. He turned to somebody unseen and shouted, "Get this boy some light eco!" Daxter shook with waves of pain.

A thin, short elf ran over and handed a small crate to the doctor, which he immediately opened and poured the bright liquid onto Daxter's chest. The substance was immediately absorbed, and the malevolence attacking his mind began to ebb away.

He took a deep sigh and whispered, "Thanks." He looked at the people around him, noticing everybody he knew in Haven City: Samos the Sage, Kiera, Ashelin, Torn, Tess. A doctor or two stood to his right.

He watched himself – or, rather, Jak – scurry up onto his chest, where the pool of eco lay only seconds ago. His own paws rested on his tunic (in some bizarre paradox). Jak shut Daxter's mouth with his hand to prevent him from saying anything else. He made a whispering "shhh" noise, and turned around back toward the rest of the group.

Jak flawlessly imitated his friend's voice. _I'm starting to rub off on him..._

"That looked like that hurt...cough...Um, yeah, party, he's right! It was, erm... Drunk Thursday at the 'Ottsel, and Jak here probably got in a bet... the poor guy probably woke up," and with a funny gesture, "all tall, dark, and gruesome."

Daxter almost smiled to himself. The story sounded just like one of his own lies... _H__e's good!_ He heard another voice enter the conversation. It was feminine, but serious. He recognized it as the voice of Ashelin.

"But we got a story from one of the citizens. They say Jak saved their lives from a Metalhead attack. Then he turned, as you would say, 'talk, dark, and gruesome.'"

Jak's smile, a trademark of one of Daxter's lies, weakened slightly. "Dammit!" Jak thought. "I wasn't there for the whole thing! I shouldn't have opened Daxter's big mouth..."

Daxter coughed uneasily, trying to get some of the nasty taste out of his mouth. The two could've sworn they heard a small giggle out of Keira, who was leaning in the corner. Daxter opened his mouth to say something, preparing to drop all hints of sarcasm from his deep voice.

Before the two could say anything, Torn burst out of his silence and into the awkward conversation. "Alright, you two, what the hell is going on?!"

Daxter didn't know what to do. Everybody was either staring or glaring at Daxter and Jak.

So, naturally, the bastard enacted his own defense mechanism. Daxter began laughing hysterically.

That, to be honest, only made things worse. Now everybody thought Jak was genuinely crazy – not a surprise to a few of them, but whatever.

Daxter slowly started to calm down. Torn knew something was wrong with his favorite warrior, so he used his military instinct and tact against the boy. He quickly approached to the medical bed, whipping out a knife and putting it a tenth of a millimeter from a major artery in his neck.

"I repeat, 'What... the... _hell_... is... going... on?'!"

Jak knew the charade was useless, so he walked across his own ribs (again, paradox) and used the maximum of his orange, furry strength to push Torn away. "Fine, Torn... we'll," or, after glancing at the silent look on his own face, "or, I'll tell what's going on."

Torn put away his weapon. He was slowly pulled backward by Ashelin, not wanting him to attack again.

Jak quickly brought the group up the date, with Daxter usually interjecting comments, or otherwise taking over whole parts of the story.

Everybody was somewhat stunned. They didn't know what to say. I mean, it wasn't too much of a catastrophe, but could be categorized under "Most Weird".

So, of course, Samos piped up. "By the Precursors! How do you expect any of us to believe this insanity?"

Daxter coughed, and then growled, "What do you want us to do? Triva?!"

Samos seemed thoughtful for a moment, and walked off, eying his staff carefully.

Changing the subject, Ashelin began talking. "Whatever happened here was not the only reason came."

Daxter interjected, "Glad to know you care about us so much."

Ashelin rolled her eyes, but stopped momentarily and eyed Daxter, who looked like Jak (in case you haven't noticed). She was, for all intents and purposes, convinced of their story.

"Metal Heads are advancing at all our weak spots..."

"... so we've heard," Daxter said, referring to that morning's incident.

"...but they're not attacking..."

"...not attacking?!"

"...except for this morning, which was an attack by less organized group."

"...Less organized?! I almost got killed by the Metal Head retards?!"

"Anyway, they seem to be circling around these weak points, especially the point where the catacombs are housed."

"...Ah, yes, the catacombs, good times, good times..."

Ashelin glared daggers at Daxter. "That's enough of your comments."

"I have a name, you know."

Torn brought out that lovable knife again. "Listen, buddy... until we know what's actually going on and how to fix it, I can hurt you all I want."

He leaned in close to Daxter. "After all, I would be fighting with somebody my own size."

Daxter gulped, Jak chuckled.

Noting the humor Jak found in Daxter's horror, Torn put away his knife, and smirked at Jak. It seemed to say, "That'll shut him up."

Samos chose this time to walk back in. He carried his staff, which was glowing softly with an emerald light.

Daxter cracked, "Oh, the almighty staff! What wisdom shall it bring us today?"

Samos gave Daxter a familiar glare.

"It's time to find out what's actually going on here..."

With that, he waved the staff three times in a counterclockwise oval, and muttered some bizarre chant. He cocked the glowing light forward in the direction of the hospital bed.

The intensity of the light slowly increased.

What appeared stunned them.


End file.
